In the processing of poultry meat, whole poultry carcasses are first thoroughly cooked until the meat is tender. After cooking, the carcasses are broken up into separate pieces including legs, wings, breasts, and backs, and the meat of the separate pieces is thereafter removed from the bones for further processing. The instant invention is concerned with the removal of the meat from poultry legs after the legs have been detached from the carcasses.
After the poultry carcasses have been cooked intact, the legs are detached therefrom with the leg and thigh bone usually remaining connected together. In separating the meat from the connected legs and thighs, the process most commonly used at present is a manual one wherein the meat is torn from the bones by hand. The excessive time consumed and the high labor costs involved in this manual separation process add substantially to the overall cost of the final product. Moreover, a substantial amount of meat is invariably left clinging to the bone, regardless of the skill with which the manual process is performed. It is also common for fragments of the gristle that covers the knuckle joint between the leg and thigh bones to be removed along with the meat, which considerably reduces the quality and value of the end product. The quality of the meat and the efficiency of the overall process is even further reduced because the meat is torn from the bone in relatively small pieces which are extremely difficult to process into sliced or diced form.
Although machines have been devised for automatically removing meat from poultry leg bones, these machines have proven deficient in several important aspects. Most existing machines operate too slowly to handle the large volume of legs required for efficient performance. The machines that operate at higher speeds fail to remove all of the meat from the bone and thereby waste a substantial amount of useful meat. Also, the quality of the meat is poor because of the undesirable material that is contained therein due to the failure of existing machines to cleanly separate the meat without also removing bone fragments, gristle, tendons and ligaments therewith. A further undesirable characteristic of prior art machines is their tendency to tear the meat into a number of small pieces. As mentioned above, the fragmentation of the poultry meat severely impairs the further treatment thereof and increases the cost of the final product accordingly.
The difficulty and time required to disassemble and reassemble existing machines for inspection, repair, and replacement of parts has presented another major problem. Due to rigid quality requirements, such maintenance work must be performed frequently and carefully with respect to machines that process food. Also, in view of the high standards of cleanliness involved in food processing, it is necessary to regularly and thoroughly wash the operating components in order to maintain the machine in the required sanitary condition. Since access to the components of prior art machines is impaired, the machines must be frequently shut down for extended time periods to permit adequate cleaning. Consequently, the maintenance costs and inefficiency are still further increased.
As a result of the foregoing drawbacks in the prior art, there remains a need in the poultry processing industry for a machine to rapidly, effectively, and cleanly remove precooked meat from poultry legs. It is the primary goal of the present invention to fulfill that need.
More specifically, an object of this invention is to provide a machine for completely and rapidly removing the meat from precooked poultry leg bones.
Another object of the invention is to provide a machine of the character described which removes the meat from connected leg and thigh bones in a single piece.
Still another object of the invention is to provide a machine of the character described in which the operating components are readily accessible for quick and easy cleaning, maintenance, and disassembly.
Yet another object of the invention is to provide a machine of the character described in which neither bone fragments nor any portion of the gristle covering the knuckle joint is removed with the meat.
A further object of the invention is to provide, in a machine of the character described, a unique stripping mechanism to cleanly strip the meat from the bones of poultry legs.
A still further object of the invention is to provide a stripping mechanism of the character described in which scraper means is included for self cleaning purposes.
Another object of the invention is to provide a machine of the character described in which the components are ruggedly constructed for effective performance and a long operating life.
Still another object of the invention is to provide, in a machine of the character described, an improved conveyor for carrying the poultry legs through the stripping mechanism at selected time intervals.
Yet another object of this invention is to provide, in a machine of the character described, a unique conveyor for transporting the legs at the desired rate from an exterior loading station to the stripping mechanism.
A further object of this invention is to provide in a machine of the character described, a reliable means for disposing of the bones after they have been stripped of meat.
Other and further objects of the invention, together with the features of novelty appurtenant thereto, will appear in the course of the following description.